Late 2010 won't boot --- See the Gray Apple, Spinner, and Bar...

[kl323]

Hey all,

I boot up, hear the chime, see the Apple and spinner.

One odd thing I notice is the progress bar below everything.

It goes to about 15% and starts from zero again.. Eventually it stops and shuts down. Restarting will not help. I've also pulled the plug for a few minutes... no dice.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks!

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Have you tried any of these steps?

Mac doesn't boot
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on​

 

[kl323]

Have you tried any of these steps?

Mac doesn't boot
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on​

I booted into Disk Utility and according to the app, it says its unable to repair disk permissions and unable to repair disk.

It tells me to back up as much as I can and reinstall.

Any ideas what happened?!?! I just remember installing the latest updates and it crashed...

I can still boot into Windows... I'm praying I can have access to my Mac files...

 

[BrianBaughn]

You could have a hard drive going bad (a bit early for your model) but it might just be corrupted system files.

Either way your Mac files are probably fine for now.

Since disk utility couldn't repair the disk (not uncommon) you'll have to access your Mac partition from another Mac using Target Disk mode, or, install a new Mac system on an external drive.

 

[kl323]

You could have a hard drive going bad (a bit early for your model) but it might just be corrupted system files.

Either way your Mac files are probably fine for now.

Since disk utility couldn't repair the disk (not uncommon) you'll have to access your Mac partition from another Mac using Target Disk mode, or, install a new Mac system on an external drive.

How can I check my hard drive's health? I run Onyx every now and then. Is that sufficient?

 

[mjsmke]

Re instaling OSX wont erase your files unless you erase the drive first.

 

[kl323]

Re instaling OSX wont erase your files unless you erase the drive first.

Did not know that... Thanks!

 

[kl323]

So I tried reinstalling Snow Leopard... but when I select the partition... it won't let me reinstall because:

"The contents of this disk can't be changed."

Note that I have a working Boot Camp partition. Do I need to delete it first? I have no way of doing that right now because I can't boot into SL.

Any ideas?

 

[BrianBaughn]

Only what I suggested before.

You should get an external drive if just for backup purposes...looks like it would have come in handy in this situation.